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A University of Sussex DPhil thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details Technofetishism of Posthuman Bodies: Representations of Cyborgs, Ghosts, and Monsters in Contemporary Japanese Science Fiction Film and Animation By Kuo Wei Lan June 2012 Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy School of Media, Film and Music University of Sussex Technofetishism of Posthuman Bodies: Representations of Cyborgs, Ghosts, and Monsters in Contemporary Japanese Science Fiction Film and Animation Summary The thesis uses a feminist approach to explore the representation of the cyborg in Japanese film and animation in relation to gender, the body, and national identity. Whereas the figure of the cyborg is predominantly pervasive in cinematic science fiction, the Japanese popular imagination of cyborgs not only crosses cinematic genre boundaries between monster, disaster, horror, science fiction, and fantasy but also crosses over to the medium of animation. In regard to the academic research on Japanese cinema and animation, there is a serious gap in articulating concepts such as live-action film, animation, gender, and the cyborg. This thesis, therefore, intends to fill the gap by investigating the gendered cyborg through a feminist lens to understand the interplay between gender, the body and the cyborg within historical-social contexts. Consequently, the questions proposed below are the starting point to reassess the relationship between Japanese cinema, animation, and the cyborg. How has Japanese popular culture been obsessed with the figure of the cyborg? What is the relationship between Japanese live-action film and Japanese animation in terms of the popular imagination of the cyborg? In particular, how might we discuss the representation of the cyborg in relation to the concept of national identity and the associated ideology of “Japaneseness”, within the framework of Donna Haraway’s influential cyborg theory and feminist theory? Page | ii The questions are addressed in the four sections of the thesis to explore the representation of the gendered cyborg. First, I outline the concept of the cyborg as it has been developed in relation to notions of gender and the ‘cyborg’ in Western theory. Secondly, I explore the issues in theorising the science fiction genre in Japanese cinema and animation and then address the problem of defining science fiction in relation to the phenomenon of the cyborg’s genre- crossing. Finally, I provide a contextualising discussion of gender politics and gender roles in Japan in order to justify my use of Western feminist theory as well as discuss the strengths and limitations of such an approach before moving, in the remainder of the thesis, to an examination of a number of case studies drawn from Japanese cinema and animation. Page | iii Acknowledgements I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude and sincere appreciation to all people who have encouraged, helped, and motivated me during my doctoral study. It would not have been possible to write my dissertation without the support of many people. First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my primary supervisor, Prof. Sue Thornham, for her excellent advice, guidance, and patience which helped me to develop a critical feminist perspective on gender issues in cinema as well as in helping me with the development of my academic writing skills. Without her understanding and support, it would have taken much longer for this thesis to take shape. Her perpetual energy, contagious enthusiasm, and insightful thinking towards feminism and media studies had always motivated me during the past six years. I would like to gratefully thank Dr. Rayna Denison who was my second supervisor during my second year of my doctoral research. Her expertise in Japanese cinema gave me valuable ideas, suggestions, and criticism. I wish to acknowledge my father’s unconditional and unequivocal support throughout this long journey. As a science academic, my father initially inspired me to pursue a PhD in the first place. I owe my warm thank to Dimitris for his friendship and encouragement since I started the PhD programme. He had generously shared his knowledge, insight, and time with me in discussing Japanese horror/science fiction cinema and animation as well as having fun during the hard and stressful times. Saving the most important for the last, I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to my long-term partner, Yakup, whose endless curiosity about my research project, inspiring and motivating conversations, considerate support, and most important, the good humour through all my academic endeavours over past several years enabled me to complete this thesis. Page | v Table of Contents Summary .............................................................................................................................. ii Statement ............................................................................................................................ iv Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................... viii Introduction: Mapping the Cyborg in Japanese ‘Science Fiction’ Cinema and Animation: Key Concepts and Questions ........................................................................................ 1 1. Motivations and Overview ............................................................................................. 1 2. The Cyborg and Gender ............................................................................................... 7 3. Japanese Cinema and Science Fiction Film ................................................................ 13 4. Methods and Approaches ............................................................................................ 37 5. Thesis Structure ........................................................................................................... 44 Chapter 1: Gender, Feminism, and Popular Culture in Postwar Japan .......................................... 48 1. The Cyborg, Local Identity, and Global Market .......................................................... 48 2. Motherhood, Gender Politics, and Feminism in Postwar Japan ................................. 54 3. Nationalism and Masculinity in Postwar Japan .......................................................... 68 4. Theoretical Concepts ................................................................................................... 79 Chapter 2: Toho’s Immortal Godzilla: Re-Imaging Japanese Postwar National Identity through the Monstrous Body ...................................................................................... 99 1. Godzilla’s Postcolonial Otherness and Postwar National Identity ........................... 101 2. The Monstrous Family: Masquerades of Masculinity and Adoptive Fatherhood .... 107 3. Mechagodzilla, the Uncanny Double, and Abject Subjectivity ................................. 122 Chapter 3: Hysterical, Metamorphic, and Abject Male Cyborg Bodies in Japanese Page | vi Cyberpunk Films ......................................................................................................... 134 1. Independent Filmmakers and Japanese Cyberpunk since the late 1980s .................. 135 2. Hysterical Male Cyborg Bodies ................................................................................. 143 3. The Uncanny Hysterical Womb ................................................................................ 149 4. Homosexual Phallic Fetish and Vagina Dentata ..................................................... 153 5. Male Hysteria, the Abject, and Sadomasochism ....................................................... 155 Chapter 4: Woman Ghosts in Black Boxes: Psychic Power, the Curse, and Technology ............ 162 1. Constructing the Monstrous Feminine and Technology of Psychic Power .............. 168 2. Sadoko’s Curse Videotapes and the Seduction of Simulacra .................................... 171 3. The Horror of the Primal Scene and the Apocalyptic Rebirth .................................. 182 Chapter 5: Phallic, Sexualised, and Violent Female Cyborg Bodies ............................................. 190 1. Animation, Violence, and Gender .............................................................................. 190 2. Institutionalised and Technologised Phallic Femininity .......................................... 202 3. The Monstrous Feminine and the Horror of the Sexualised Android and Robot..... 210 Chapter 6: Apocalypse, Transcendence, and Posthumanity ........................................................ 222 1. The Posthumanist